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Blueberries - Revive & Increase Production

2/12/2023

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Blueberries in an Edible Landscape!

What a fun addition these are to any garden or yard!  ​Easy to grow and a handy snack!!
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You'll have great success with Blueberries if you follow these simple rules:
  • At least two different varieties will result in the largest harvest
  • Plant within 10 feet of each other - so the Bees can find both plants 
  • Wet feet, full Sun = the best growing conditions, where the ground will be perfectly acidic!
  • Prune EVERY year.
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 Fertilizing Also Helps.
     Spring Care:
  • Prune then Mulch.  Put fertilizer down first, then mulch on top. Wood chip mulch is okay for blueberries.
  • Always use an Organic fertilizer on fruit trees and shrubs; it also **improves flavor** BONUS!  Fertilize around March & June to wake the plants up and get them to start building wood for next year's production.
  • Use 2-3 inches of acidic food for blueberries, according to the directions. Then, mulch around the perimeter of the bush to help insulate the outer root system and to conserve water.
  • Water deeply to help the fertilizer seep into the root system.  FYI Organic granular fertilizers are not as water soluble so they are effective much longer into the season.  
  • ​Make sure to irrigate in the summer for at least the first few years. FYI a stressed plant will sacrifice fruit production in order to survive.
BEFORE

​AFTER
Pruning Tips:
  • Disinfect your tools after pruning each plant - I cannot stress this enough!!
  • Prune the oldest wood at the ground to open up the center. This allows for new growth from the root. ​​
  • Preserve a balance of nice long healthy shoots from last year.  As the canes get 3-5 years old, they produce less. 
  • Airflow is the most important in order to prevent disease.
  • ​On the upper part of the bush, prune out the smaller thin branches and small shoots, leaving the strongest branches.  
You can grow Blueberries in a pot! 
  • Smaller varieties grow excellent in a pot!! A proven winner is Jellybean dwarf with an approximate size of 2x2 feet (18x18x2ft pot).  ​
  • Make sure to use the right soil for potted blueberries.  Use **acidic potting soil**  (rhody-azalea-camelia) potting mix. 
Get Pruning Help



​​Fall Blueberry Color
Skagit Valley, WA

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Backyard berries!

3/3/2022

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Luscious Food from Sprawling Crawlers

Blackberries, Strawberries, & Raspberries........... Ahhhh, the taste of summer! 
These delicious berries are prolific in the Northwest, and the many varieties and cultivars make harvesting them a summer-long treat. It's almost hard to believe that these wild brambles and creeping vines can produce such luscious fruit. We look forward to this so much, and don't have to do much planning to get them. And why should we? They take little effort to grow and come back year after year!  The downside is their growing habit. They can quickly take over vast areas of bare ground, and can be somewhat difficult to tame.  
Here are 
a few ways I handle them, to increase harvest, and minimize effort.  ​

BLACKBERRIES

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If you have a hillside of blackberry brambles like me, you may benefit from a "containment method."  I start in March by laying down A LOT of cardboard around the area where I want to grow them.   
Then I remove the dead & too-long canes, remembering that the bushes will only fruit on OLD wood - last year's growth. So as I prune, I shape & wrap the canes around each other so the patch will remain a manageable size. 


​NOTE  Many flavorful cultivars & thornless varieties are now available that grow well in the Western WA weather! 

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TIP  You can shape the area as they grow, or just let them form into a mound where the berries will be abundant and easy to get to when they ripen in the fall. 
​ STRAWBERRIES
I like to grow strawberries in pots with the Tier Method.  The black pots serve as a heat-sink, absorbing heat during the day and releasing it slowly overnight, keeping the soil warmer longer. The berries ripen faster, PLUS it's a great way to minimize slugs & keep other predators at bay.  When the runners start to spread, I put them into one of the adjoining pots, thereby creating an above-ground network of strawberry plants, that produce wonderfully and consistently for the summer. The "mother" plants are viable for 3 years, so to keep your patch going you'll want to separate some of the "runners"  which will become the "mother" plants. 
​TIP  Pots get warm & dry, so keeping them watered will ensure the red berries keep coming!!​
RASPBERRIES
   RED  & GOLD
TIP Prune June-Bearing plants after harvest, as these will fruit on OLD wood next season. Everbearing plants fruit early on old wood, and again later on the newer spring growth. 
THIN your patch when plants are dormant, to remove the dead & crowded canes and to ensure a healthy & abundant harvest. 
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Sometimes the new shoots come from the crown when the cane looks dead above the ground.  You can dig up the new shoots if you want to transplant or move them.
I planted ONE CANE and this is how much it spread in ONE SEASON.  Make sure you have plenty of space!!
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Plant - Maintain - Harvest
Read my previous blog post HERE
 Get more berries per cane!!  ​Watch my YouTube video on how to do it HERE
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Raspberries  **Red & Gold**

3/25/2021

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This post is all about Raspberries. So, if you got some from me, you want to grow them, or if you’re growing them and they seem unproductive or “out of hand,” this information could be for you. Otherwise, probably not.
 
​These are Caroline Everbearing Red Raspberries. They produce in mid-summer, then again in the early fall and continue at least until it freezes, sometimes, as late as November. ​These plants produce berries that have a wildly robust and slightly tangy flavor. They adapt to varied soil conditions and are resistant to pests and rust.
 
The first year the canes are small, and may produce a few berries in the late part of the season. The 2nd year canes produce in mid-summer and then again abundantly in the fall. Do NOT prune the 1st year canes, or they will only produce once the following year. The 3rd year canes are dying or dead and will not usually produce. However, I never snip off the dead canes until the following spring when the plants start leafing out, just to be sure.  I neither prune nor trellis, but these are options depending on how much time you have!
 
New shoots come up from the expansive roots of the original plant. This is where PLANNING IS NECESSARY. If you grow raspberries along a fence line, be prepared for them to creep into your neighbor’s yard, which they may not want. I plant mine along a garage or some other building, where they can get sun AND shade, as they will grow better with both. Water if the weather is dry, or if they are too sheltered from the rain.  Thin every couple of years to keep the foliage low and the fruiting high!! I don’t use any kind of fertilizer, but a nice compost or mulch would be acceptable. Chemical fertilizer is not necessary or acceptable – in my opinion.
 
Locally we also grow yellow raspberries. The cane variety seems to grow much, much slower than the reds, but the fruit is divine! I will be selling these next year!!  There is also an evergreen ground cover raspberry bramble that is wonderfully producing, but DO be careful where you plant it if you want to eat those berries!
 
Watch my planting process in this YouTube video:
https://youtu.be/xAcZiB3cdkI
 
As always, call or message me if you have questions, I’m happy to help!
 
Happy Spring & I’ll talk to you soon!!
 kathy

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